Jury splits: Ali E. Davis gets life in prison

He could have faced the death penalty. Easton victims' families say they're OK with the decision.

Ali Elijah Davis is shown being led to a hearing in May, 2008. (Morning Call file photo )

January 28, 2010|By Riley Yates | OF THE MORNING CALL

Ali E. Davis will spend the rest of his life in prison for murdering three people execution-style in Easton's West Ward because a Northampton County jury deadlocked on whether he deserved the death penalty.

Judge Stephen Baratta on Wednesday gave Davis life in prison without parole for each of the three killings, a mandatory result of the jury's inability to reach a unanimous decision.

Baratta ran the sentences back to back, meaning, First Deputy District Attorney Terence Houck said, that ''Ali has to do life in prison and then die, and then do life in prison and then die, and then again do life in prison and then die.

''And that's a good thing,'' Houck said.

On Monday, Davis was convicted of killing Alphe Rene, 20; Chanel Armour, 23; and Aleah Hamlin, 19, who were shot at close range Nov. 29, 2007, inside a N. 13th Street apartment in a crime prosecutors labeled a ''gangland hit.''

In its memo, the jury indicated it was roughly split over the death penalty, with several undecided but at least one juror on each side firm in his or her belief, Baratta said. The judge did not detail the breakdown.

The jury's deadlock was announced to a packed but silent court after more than four hours of deliberations. Missing were Davis' family, who afterward bumped into the families of his victims as they all exited through the courthouse's main door.

At trial, Davis, 22, of Freemansburg was found guilty of all charges: three counts of first-degree murder, three of third-degree murder, and related conspiracy counts.

Hamlin's mother, Kecia Hamlin, said she was satisfied that Davis will spend life in prison.

''I've waited two years for this,'' she said. ''My whole entire family, we waited two years for this.''

Olivia Armour, Chanel Armour's mother, said she felt similarly and that she welcomes trials of the other men accused of acting with Davis.

''We have a few guys to go,'' she said. ''Justice has prevailed.''

Davis' life sentences were embraced by defense attorney Brian Monahan, who had asked jurors to ''celebrate life in some way'' by sparing Davis the death penalty.

''The jurors deliberated hard on both the guilt and penalty phase, and ultimately did the right thing in terms of the result,'' Monahan said.

He said he needs to speak with Davis and his family to see whether they will appeal the jury's guilty verdict. But he praised Baratta's handling of the case, saying ''it was a fair trial.''

Cadicia Forester, Davis' mother, declined to comment.

Davis, a Bloods member, committed the shootings with three others in retaliation for two gang slayings days before in New Jersey, prosecutors said. Davis led the 128 N. 13th St. killings, picking up the three other men in New Jersey and driving them to the apartment for the crime, prosecutors said.

Rene was targeted, Armour ''knew too much'' and Hamlin was ''in the wrong place at the wrong time,'' Houck said. Another man Davis and his group were after, Lakimdel Spring, 23, escaped through a window, according to trial testimony.

The trial stretched more than two weeks, including a week of jury selection. The panel was made up of nine women and three men.

After the sentence, jurors were escorted from the courthouse by court officials and sheriff's deputies through a back door. They declined to comment.

Under Pennsylvania's death penalty law, capital punishment can only be imposed in cases of first-degree murder with at least one of 18 aggravating circumstances. All 12 jurors must agree it is appropriate.

Juries make the decision at a hearing separate from the trial. In it, prosecutors present aggravating circumstances -- in Davis' case, the multiple murders -- to justify the death penalty. Jurors weigh those against mitigating circumstances that the defense may detail, for instance Davis' young age or his lack of a significant prior criminal record.

Death sentences in Northampton County are rare. The last person to receive one was Josoph Henry, who was convicted of the 1986 rape and murder of fellow Lehigh University student Jeanne Ann Clery. A federal judge later vacated the penalty, and Henry got life in prison and agreed to waive future appeals.

It was 1933 when the last execution from the county was carried out, when Lower Saucon Township farmer John Kurutz was electrocuted for killing his 16-year-old stepson.

In the triple homicide, another man -- Lewis A. Gray, 33, of East Orange, N.J. -- also faces capital murder charges but has yet to be tried. The two other men were named in court as Olayiwola Hollist and Demar Edwards, but they have not been charged.

Houck said with one ''very dangerous man'' off the street for life, authorities can turn to the other cases.

''Now we're focused on the other three and we're coming to get them too,'' Houck said.

Davis is also accused of a fourth shooting death in May 2007 on Easton's South Side. He is charged with gunning down a New York man near the Delaware Terrace housing development. A trial in that capital case is expected this spring.

Baratta said prosecutors and Davis' defense team are scheduled to meet Friday to discuss the pending case.